# I am the Watcher. I am your guide through this vast new twtiverse.
# 
# Usage:
#     https://watcher.sour.is/api/plain/users              View list of users and latest twt date.
#     https://watcher.sour.is/api/plain/twt                View all twts.
#     https://watcher.sour.is/api/plain/mentions?uri=:uri  View all mentions for uri.
#     https://watcher.sour.is/api/plain/conv/:hash         View all twts for a conversation subject.
# 
# Options:
#     uri     Filter to show a specific users twts.
#     offset  Start index for quey.
#     limit   Count of items to return (going back in time).
# 
# twt range = 1 10
# self = https://watcher.sour.is/conv/zffutwq
marado
twtxt.net
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Digital Books wear out faster than Physical Books
eaplmx
twtxt.net
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@marado I don't agree completely with the concept of wearing out (like audio CDs vs LP or audio cassettes) degrading quality over time.

But in terms of accessibility, I fully agree. Now I can't play either CDs or LPs since I don't have a player. I'm using digital media like YouTube/Spotify for my old music. But I also have SD with music from 20 years ago...

Basically, I like both media.
eaplmx
twtxt.net
View Thread
and on books, I like digital books on my Kindle, mainly for novels and readings without images. Physical books for art references, books that I love, and content with many pictures. And finally PDFs for everything else, mainly disposable content.
mckinley
twtxt.net
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@eaplmx

> Now I can’t play either CDs or LPs since I don’t have a player.

Sure, but you still *own* that music. You can buy a player at any time and play them. You can take them to a friend's house and play them there. You can even rip all your albums to digital files and copy them to your flash modded iPod.

In terms of durability, both CDs (pressed, not burned) and LPs will last a long time if you take care of them.

Youtube, Spotify, and Amazon offer convenience, but that convenience comes at the cost of your freedom. You are not permitted to do what you want with the content you paid for. You must also understand that you will lose access to that content at some time, occasionally without warning, and that time may be closer than you think.

The best of both worlds are DRM-free marketplaces like Qobuz, Gogs, and HDtracks.
eaplmx
twtxt.net
View Thread
@mckinley I don't disagree... It's like the difference on owning a house vs renting, and basically renting anything where you can get kicked out almost in any moment. it depends on the contract you are signing.

That said, you can own DRM-free content, being hosted in a marketplace, or saved on your devices.

DRM is a long topic for a twt, but as a creator I don't want my content to be pirated that much, at least not being extremely easy to pirate making the people prefer one click for a free download vs paying, let's say, 2 dollars.

I don't know about the marketplaces you mentioned, only GOG and Humble Bundle for games, and some others for games. I'll take a look, that's for sharing!
marado
twtxt.net
View Thread
@mckinley @eaplmx There's zero evidence that DRM hinders piracy, plenty of evidence that it harms both consumers and artists. There's plenty of good stuff written about it, Doctorow is a personal favorite author of mine. Here's one sort of random text of his about DRM.
@marado@ciberlandia.pt
tilde.pt
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@mckinley @eaplmx There's zero evidence that DRM hinders piracy, plenty of evidence that it harms both consumers and artists. There's plenty of good stuff written about it, Doctorow is a personal favorite author of mine. Here's one sort of random text of his about DRM.
marado
twtxt.net
View Thread
@eaplmx @mckinley To be fair, tapes have a better longevity than CDs, and nothing compared to vinyl. But I do agree with what you said (and also have a mild collector addiction to music in all those formats).
@marado@ciberlandia.pt
tilde.pt
View Thread
@eaplmx @mckinley To be fair, tapes have a better longevity than CDs, and nothing compared to vinyl. But I do agree with what you said (and also have a mild collector addiction to music in all those formats).
eaplmx
twtxt.net
View Thread
@marado Well, I can't agree on that one. It's a 'maybe' since is hard to measure, but IMO we can't say Zero evidence. There are some numbers showing that artificial scarcity has some impact on sales, and obviously, DRM devs want to sell their services, although they are biased. (I'm playing devil's advocate here, making both positions to collide to reach a useful compromise)

My position is that DRM helps to prevent piracy among mainstream users, which would decide on renting Apple Music or Spotify vs using hipster alternatives. We as power users will find the best ratio between convenience and control.
https://www.idealog.com/blog/drm-may-not-prevent-piracy-but-it-might-still-protect-sales/

I assume you've read this one: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Information_Doesn%27t_Want_to_Be_Free
I like it as my reference on the topic. Doctorow as a creator has skin in the game, so he knows about it and is a good influence on me as a creator as well.